A new season of theatre, comedy, dance and music brings an international outlook to London in Battersea Arts Centre's Going Global Season. Artists and performers from all around the world share stories that span Brazilian riots to Iranian consumerism. From shifting the boundaries of digital storytelling to exposing some of the most urgent issues in contemporary society, this bold new season invites us to open our minds and focus on connection rather than division.
Going Global is the first season from Battersea Arts Centre's new artistic director and CEO Tarek Iskander. He describes the season as 'full of remarkable international performers making their London debuts, complemented by brilliant UK artists grappling with global themes.'
He added: 'Divisions in the UK are becoming so entrenched, it feels like the ideal time to reach out…across boundaries, across borders, across opinions and across ideologies.'
This emphasis on inclusivity goes beyond the subject matter of the performances to the venue itself, as Battersea Arts Centre has become the first fully relaxed venue. This means that the venue and all performances will be accessible and welcoming to disabled and neurodivergent people.
The Going Global season runs from February to May and the full line-up is here. Culture Whisper rounds up our highlights below.
When it Breaks it Burns
19-29 February, 7:30pm
Sixteen young people who were part of the high-school occupation protests in Brazil in 2015 and 2016 fuse dance, music and performance to re-create the revolution and share their story in this rousing show. The action overspills from the stage as the coletivA ocupação performers sweep audience members into the uprising. Prepare to stand, dance and be part of the movement.
Daughter
3-28 March, 7:30pm - From 18 March, all further performances of Daughter at Battersea Arts Centre are cancelled
After dazzling at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018, Canadian show Daughter finally gets its London premiere at Battersea Arts Centre. Adam Lazarus's unsettling satire, in which he plays The Father, explores the boundaries between love, comedy and brutality. Presented as a candid confession, the show confronts toxic misogyny and predatory urges with such magnetism that you'll be swinging between laughter and horrified silence. As Daughter aims to provoke and stimulate conversation, each performance will be followed by a discussion with Aislinn Rose, the show's producer.
Cock Cock.. Who's There?
14 April-2 May, 8pm
Take a trip across three continents, through the online landscape of hook-up sites and dating apps, via romance and violence in this boundary-breaking show about sexuality. Award-winning theatre-maker Samira Elagoz shares her own experiences and encounters as she explores the full breadth of straight sexual relationships. Celebrate femininity in tune into the female gaze as Cock Cock... Who's There shifts the gender balance. The show comes to Battersea Arts Centre after impressing audiences on tour in Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Dublin, Mexico City, Reykjavik and more.
Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran
14 April-2 May, 7:30pm
It's up to the audience members to take to Instagram to hunt for the connections between privileged Iranian youths and the global poverty gap in this interactive show by Javaad Alipoor. Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran is an inventive and sharply funny examination of entitlement and consumerism and the way in which digital technology fuels our need for more stuff, and exposes the gulf between extreme wealth and poverty.
Life: LIVE!
19-30 May, 7:30pm
After the success of Triple Treat (2016) and Post-Popular (2019), trail-blazing performer Lucy McCormick returns with a riotous new experience. Life: LIVE! is an immersive and subversive pop concert that brings ideas about fame, self-love and recovery to life with utterly over-the-top musical theatricality. Together with her 'electrotrash Girl Squad', McCormick will perform a new album of original music.
| What | Going Global, Battersea Arts Centre |
| Where | Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London, SW11 5TN | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Clapham Junction (overground) |
| When |
19 Feb 20 – 30 May 20, Times vary |
| Price | £10 |
| Website | Click here for more information and to book |
